Paul G. Mason

Paul G. Mason, P.E. of Weston, passed away on Monday June 29, 2009 at his residence after a long battle against pancreatic cancer. He was 65. Ironically, he never made any connection with contracting this treatable, but incurable, disease of which his father died in 1983 at age 79.

Born in Ludlow, MA. on February 8, 1944, he was the only child of the late Herman A. and Viola R. Mason. He graduated from Springfield MA Technical High School and received a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Following a lifelong love of trains and graduation, he joined the Pennsylvania Railroad engineering department. Finding that love of trains did not equate to a satisfying business career, he made a dramatic change. Responding to an ad for engineers to join Factory Mutual (a major industrial / commercial insurance company), he started an over 40 year career as a property loss control / fire protection engineer advising clients of hazards and offering solutions. Starting in Philadelphia, moving to the south-central part of Pennsylvania and advancing to Senior Resident Engineer in the field for nine years, he decided that assisting entire companies was the next career move. It was off to NYC, where he joined Marsh & McLennan (the world's largest insurance broker) for 16 years, advancing into management. Employer changes - a period including commuting to NYC for 11 years, Norwalk for three years and self-employment, along with the deaths of former colleagues in the 9/11 tragedy, resulted in a full-time employment opportunity at Marsh. He was asked to return to rebuild his former department. He continued working following his illness diagnosis. A later downsizing ended his employment with Marsh.

“Across a crowded room” at Marsh in 1979, he met Ellen Gelzer, beginning an “office romance” leading to marriage in 1982. Since their initial apartment living in NJ was not desired, a 1984 search for a house / land in CT resulted in their present residence in Weston. Spiritually, he believed that being in an interfaith marriage always meant that all children would be raised in the mother's faith. The family joined Temple Israel, Westport, where their only child Benjamin, recently a college graduate, has been active.

In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by his wife's parents, Arnold and Bernice Gelzer of Princeton, NJ, two aunts, one uncle and numerous cousins.

Professionally, he was most proud of his participation in the development and promotion, during the 1980's and 1990's of the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standard for water supplies in suburban and rural areas. Evidence of this can be seen throughout Weston by the red pipes (“dry” hydrants) adjacent to “fire” ponds. In addition to the NFPA, he was a member of SFPE (Society of Fire Protection Engineers), NSPE (National Society of Professional Engineers), ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) and the Londonderry Fire Co. No.1, Middletown, PA.

Services will take place on Thursday July 2, 2009 at 11:00 AM at The Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home, 88 Beach Rd. Fairfield, with interment following at Temple Israel Cemetery on Richards Avenue in Norwalk. Contributions in Paul's name may be made to Temple Israel or Whittingham Cancer Center.